USA: Hobbyist beekeepers are buzzing after reversing America’s critical bee shortage in just 5 years

Nearly a million bee colonies have been formed in the past five years, according to 2022 Census of Agriculture data from the USDA, boosting the total number of colonies to an all-time high of 3.8 million. The record high has arrived after nearly 20 years of collapsing colonies, where bees died from exposure to poisonous pesticides, stress from cross-country transit to pollinate crops, invasive pests, and changes to habitat. While new colonies have formed, the threat of their collapse is still a very relevant danger. State legislation that offers tax breaks to beekeepers and the country’s need for pollinators help explain the busier hives, but it’s not all good news: The domesticated, or managed, bees are also a looming threat to other natural pollinators vulnerable to extinction. Even with record-breaking bee colony numbers, honey production only grew by 11% last year, according to the Census. The difference can be explained by taking a look at the way the Census gathers data. For ...